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Leaving Iraq

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Spc. Joseph Martin of Hanson, Ky. kisses his son, John Thomas, Dec. 20, 2011 shortly after Martin's unit, Co. A 149th BSB of the National Guard, returned to its hometown of Benton, Ky. The unit, consisting of about 70 soldiers, came home from its duties in Iraq just days before the Christmas holiday. John Wright/The Paducah Sun/AP

US President Barack Obama salutes during a ceremony for the return of the United States Forces-Iraq Colors at Joint Base Andrews marking the end of the war in Iraq, December 20, 2011. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

US Air Force airman Staff Sgt. Justin Rogers waits for his luggage as he arrives in Baltimore Washington International Airport, Maryland December 20, 2011. US troops arrived home after their withdrawal from Iraq via the US Air Force base Ali Al Salem in Kuwait. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Students at Boulevard Elementary School, from left, Siciley Cannon, Kaylen Vandiver, Chris Pinto and Max Higgins take down the POW and US flags after school in Kokomo, Ind. on Dec. 8, 2011. In the wake of the Dec. 2011 departure of the last US troops from Iraq, this Midwestern town joins hundreds of others across the nation that will be wrestling with the legacy of a nearly nine-year war. Darron Cummings/AP

A US Air Force airman sleeps as he waits inside a customs transport terminal while enroute to their flight home to the United States at the US Air Force base Ali Al Salem near Kuwait City December 19, 2011. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Members of the US military retire its ceremonial flags signifying the end of their presence in Iraq at the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center in Baghdad. The US military officially ended its war in Iraq nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. This ceremony is called the 'casing of the colors.' Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Martin Dempsey (r), US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta (c.) and US ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey attend a ceremony marking the end of the US military engagement at the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center. Mohammed Ameen/Reuters

US President Barack Obama greets troops at Fort Bragg, N.C. The visit is seen as marking the end of the Iraq war with a tribute to the troops who fought and died in a conflict Obama opposed from the start. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Iraqi soldiers watch residents gather in a celebration of the US troop withdrawal from Falluja, Iraq. Hundreds of demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans in the city that was a former stronghold for militants. Mohanned Faisal/Reuters

Rana Walid Hammoud holds a picture of her dead father during a demonstration celebrating the US troop withdrawal in Fallujah, Iraq. Hammoud was killed during a fight with the US army in 2004. Khalid Mohammed/AP

Thousands of people gathered in Fallujah, Iraq, to celebrate the US withdrawal, hoisting Iraqi flags and holding banners. Khalid Mohammed/AP

A security contractor works out in a building inside the US embassy compound in Baghdad. The compound, located in Baghdad's Green Zone, will be the home for thousands of American citizens left after the US military completes its withdrawal Dec. 31st. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Ugandans Kenneth Sebagal (r.) and Malou Geofrey from Third Country Nationals, a company that provided security for Camp Kalsu, walk through the base near Hilla, Iraq. They are going home to Uganda after serving at the base. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

A vendor sells US army items on a cart at the Bab al-Sharji market in central Baghdad. Vendors selling items such as detergent, wallets, glasses, bags and meals are worried about losing their jobs when the US military pulls out at the end of the year. Saad Shalash/Reuters

American soldiers walk single file to board a C-130 plane for a flight to Kuwait. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

US Army Capt. Mark Smith reads a newspaper and Sgt. Howard Jolin sleeps as American soldiers prepare for flights to Kuwait for their final withdrawal from Iraq at Sather Air Base on Dec. 3, 2011, in Baghdad. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

Soldiers of the US Army's 115th Brigade Support Battalion gather at their headquarters at Camp Kalsu, near Baghdad, as they prepare a withdrawal convoy of armored vehicles from Iraq south to Kuwait. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

Soldiers prepare medical kits as they rehearse mounting a withdrawal convoy of armored vehicles from their location 25 miles southeast of Baghdad to Kuwait. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

Yas Khudair al-Khafaji lost his wife and 11-year-old daughter in the Hamra Hotel bombing in 2005. Even though the bombing was carried out by Iraqi insurgents, Mr. Khafaji blames her death on the United States, as the occupying force. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

Suad Mohamed looks at the damage to her family's apartment, as Iraqis cope with the aftermath of the 2005 double suicide car bomb. The attack affected civilians living near the targeted Hamra Hotel, a favorite place for journalists and other foreigners to stay, in Baghdad. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

The family of Suad Mohammed (in head scarf) today lives in a cinder-block structure in Baghdad near the site of a suicide bombing six years ago. While concern about violence endures, a deeper concern now is the ability of Iraq's always-bickering politicians to steer the nation toward a better, post-US future. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

An Iraqi boy dances to hip-hop music in Baghdad. After more than eight years in Iraq, the American military's legacy includes a fragile democracy and bitter memories of war. For Iraq's youths, that legacy also includes rap music, tattoos, and slang. Karim Kadim/AP

Shiite and Sunni Muslims sit in front of their shops in the primarily Shiite neighborhood of Hurriyah in north Baghdad. Hurriyah, which means "freedom" in Arabic, is typical of much of Iraq today: far quieter than at the height of the war, but with an uneasy peace achieved through intimidation and bloodshed. The number of Iraqi neighborhoods in which members of the two Muslim sects live side-by-side and intermarry has dwindled. Hadi Mizban/AP

US Army Lieut. Gen. Robert Caslen congratulates Iraqi soldiers after a live-fire exercise outside Baghdad. The Iraqi government is preparing its forces to take over all security tasks once the American troops leave at the end of this month. Hadi Mizban/AP

A US Army photographer holds up a camera while traveling with journalists on a US military Blackhawk helicopter 25 miles southeast of Baghdad at Camp Kalsu, Iraq. Getty announced it will be releasing 35 million of its photos to be used for free by bloggers and social media sites. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

A "No Profanity" sign is posted on a wall with a flatscreen TV in a waiting room at a helicopter landing pad in the Green Zone, Baghdad. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

US soldiers begin their journey home from an airbase west of Baghdad. All remaining US troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from the country by Dec. 31. Khalid Mohammed/AP/File

Airmen of the US Air Force 447th Expeditionary Logistical Readiness Squadron (ELRS) and air crew load C-130 transport aircraft with cargo, as troops conduct their final withdrawal from Iraq. US commanders say they are on track for a total drawdown by Dec. 31, which will end the 8 1/2-year US military presence in Iraq that saw the toppling of Saddam Hussein, a brutal civil war and insurgency, and finally a deadlocked democratic Iraqi government. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

US Army First Sgt Lazaro Ramos (l.) and Sgt. Howard Jolin rest at Sather Air Base in Baghdad while they prepare for flights to Kuwait for their withdrawal from Iraq. Scott Peterson/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images

US Army Capt. April Gustafson and SFC James Burdett wait for flights at Sather Air Base in Baghdad as part of a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq to Kuwait.

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A veteran charged with killing four homeless men was troubled after returning from Iraq, reports say. That has highlighted the rising mental-health problems facing the US military.

ByDaniel B. Wood, Staff writerJanuary 17, 2012

Reed Saxon/AP

The scheduled arraignment later this week of an Iraq veteran charged with killing four homeless men in southern California has shone a spotlight on the mental-health troubles facing Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans back home – and whether communities and government agencies are equipped to help.